Breaking the Ice
by starrider53
Summary: A challenge made by Creativetomboy. I decided to make it a sequel to "Two of a Kind". The challenge was that Orbulon and Ashley have a problem and they need each other to fix it. ;D


**Breaking the Ice**

It was yet another day at WarioWare, Inc., and all the employees were going to another meeting in the meeting room. They all took their seats and waited for Penny to start talking. Compared to the previous time, Penny and the others were in a better mood, because there finally was another topic to discuss rather than repeating the same thing over and over again.

"Good morning, everyone," Penny said. "As you may all know, tomorrow night we are hosting the annual Game Appreciation Day, and we need to get everything ready for this event. This also means that we all need to work on at least five mini-games to present to the public. Of course, we need volunteers for people to bring food, beverages and of the like." She took out a clipboard with lined paper and a pink fountain pen. "So, I need all of you to bring at _least_ one thing to the event. Let's start with… Wario. What will you bring?"

Wario was leaning back on his executive chair, his hands behind his head. "I'll bring garlic fries!" Everyone made their own face of disgust; they couldn't tolerate garlic anymore because most of the building already smelled like it. Even the ceiling fans can't blow the smell away.

"Okay…" Penny said as she wrote it down. "How about Jimmy T.?"

"Chip's n' dip, yo!"

"Mona?"

"I'll bring my signature pizza!"

"9-Volt and 18-Volt?"

"Potato chips; they're part of a gamer's diet, y'know!" "Word!"

"Dribble and Spitz?"

"Chili fries!"

"Hm, competition I see…" Wario said.

"Mike?"

"I WILL PROVIDE HAMBURGERS. I AM PROGRAMMED TO FLIP COW PATTIES."

"Orbulon?"

"Green gelatin."

"Ashley and Red?"

"… Spring Rolls."

"Kat and Ana?"

"Sushi!"

"Grandpa?"

"I will concoct a delicious recipe. It will be a surprise!"

"Okay… Young Cricket? Master Mantis?"

"We will bring Hawaiian Punch to this event," Master Mantis said.

"Alrighty!" Penny said as she wrote the last few things down. "And I'll bring an assortment of juices." She then turned her attention back to the employees. "Now all there is left to do is to work on the mini-games. I know we don't have a lot of time to work on all five of them, but please do your best and make them with the same quality as your previous ones. The booths and everything else will be handled by a special team of party organizers. If you have any questions, please come talk to me in my office. This meeting is now dismissed."

Everyone got up and exited the door, chattering excitedly about the event. Orbulon and Ashley were the last ones to go. They were about to go at the same time, and bumped into each other's shoulders. "Oh! S-sorry," Orbulon apologized. He got a little red in the face as he let Ashley go first. She glanced at him quickly then went directly to her office.

It's been weeks since that out-of-place kiss in the meeting room. They both tried to act as if nothing has happened, but it's hard for them to do so, especially Orbulon. He is a terrible liar and everyone can tell what's up with him like an open book, even with his big sunglasses covering almost all of his face. For both of them, that kiss meant something special, but they really are afraid to admit it. And how can they? Ashley supposedly hates Orbulon, and everyone knows that. How can it be that all of a sudden she doesn't?

Orbulon waited a bit for her to go to her office until he can go to his. Once he went through the hallway, he noticed how quiet it was. _Everyone must be taking this seriously,_ he thought. He snuck a peak at Jimmy T.'s office and saw how he was lacking inspiration that he turned up his radio and started disco dancing. Orbulon watched for a bit until he got bored and left.

He closed the door behind him, thinking on what to do. Of course, his games were going to be based on intelligence, because he simply loved them and thought they were fun. Other than that, he didn't know what else to base his games on. But at the moment he didn't know what kind of games to make. He felt a little pressure building up, and sat down at his desk and took out a black notebook where he made notes on certain things. He wrote down a reminder to make green gelatin – extra wobbly – for the event. He turned on his MakerMatic and went to the Game Maker section, but he simply couldn't think of anything. Actually, he couldn't really concentrate as his thoughts kept drifting towards Ashley and how soft her lips are…

Meanwhile, Ashley was sitting at her desk, frustrated because she couldn't get any inspiration at all. She thought that she was the only one who didn't get started at all out of the rest of the employees at the company, especially Orbulon, since he's _so_ smart. She thumped her head on her desk. _Why do I keep thinking of that alien?_ She thought angrily. She wanted to forget that incident that happened weeks ago, but at the same time she didn't want to. Ever since that day, she's been longing to feel Orbulon's lips against hers again. They were indescribably sweet and velvety soft, but acting as if nothing happened was the hardest part for her. She wasn't the type to just open up and express her feelings to _anyone_, especially him.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Penny's voice was heard through the speaker. "Attention, everyone! I forgot to mention that whenever you are finished with each mini-game, you must show it to me for approval. Thank you! *Click*". Ashley heard 9-Volt next door curse loudly, then she let out a frustrated sigh, her head still on the desk. "This is just great," she muttered.

Red felt kind of worried for Ashley. He knew that whenever she was stressed over something, she was in a _very_ bad mood compared to other days. _Maybe something sweet will cheer her up,_ he thought. He trotted over to her side. "Ashley, would you like me to get you something? An ice cream, maybe?"

Ashley tilted her head to look at the little devil-like creature. She thought about it, and concluded that it wasn't such a bad idea. "Alright. Get me two scoops of ice cream; one scoop cookie dough, one scoop chocolate." Red nodded and proceeded to make another trip to the Gelateria four blocks away.

Ashley let her head sit on her desk for several minutes before she turned on her MakerMatic and went to the Game Maker section. She carelessly doodled around on the background template, then immediately erased it when she saw that she drew Orbulon. "Get yourself together," she told herself. At that moment she wasn't sure if she'll be able to make five mini-games on time. She decided to doodle around until she got some inspiration.

After many minutes of doodling passed, Red came back with her ice cream, exactly how she ordered it. Ashley nodded in approval and took it. It was slightly melting, so she licked the edges as much as she could, until…

A drop of ice cream landed on her MakerMatic in between two colorful buttons. It seeped through the edge of one, and landed on the Motherboard. In seconds, the MakerMatic glitched, corrupted, and shut down. Ashley's hair turned white as she saw her bad luck get the best of her. "No, no, NO!" she shouted as she tapped the screen impatiently several times. She tried pressing the buttons, but nothing worked. She lost her ice cream craving and chucked it, unknowingly landing on Red, catching him off guard. Red took off the waffle cone from one of his horns and looked up. He decided to stay out of it and quietly escaped to the bathroom down the hall.

Ashley felt stumped after her anger subsided. What was she going to do now? She had no idea how to fix a computer. She didn't know any spells that could do that. The only one she knew how to fix one is…

_Orbulon,_ she thought. She let out a sigh as she thumped her head on the desk again. She groaned about being hopeless all the way until lunchtime. The bell rang, indicating the start of the employees' lunch break. Almost everyone ran out from their offices toward the cafeteria to escape the pressure of making mini-games. The special of the day was spaghetti. Ashley dragged herself out of her office and walked to the cafeteria.

She got in line and took a tray to get her food. Cafeteria Joe served her serving without saying anything; he would get easily spooked from her scary vibe and rather not say anything at all. She made her way to her table at the very back of the room and dropped her tray on it. She looked around and saw Penny talking with Orbulon. It looked like he had the sniffles. Ashley watched how he got his tray and looked at the spaghetti strangely, and listened how Cafeteria Joe explained what spaghetti is and how to eat it. "I'll give this Earth food a try," she heard Orbulon say as he picked up a noodle and inspected it.

Orbulon sat down at a table on the opposite side of the room from where Ashley was. He picked up his fork and twirled the noodles around, just like he was told to do. He picked it up and ate it. Shortly, he showed a face of satisfaction and continued to eat more of his lunch. Ashley kept looking at the way he ate, until Orbulon looked up and saw her looking at him. He stopped chewing on his food and stared back. They were staring at each other the same way they did weeks ago, until Ashley thought it was enough and looked away, scratching the back of her neck. Orbulon blushed a bit, and then continued to chew his food, only a bit slower this time.

Minutes later, lunchtime was over, and everyone headed back to work. Ashley had been thinking about asking Orbulon to help her out with her computer problem, but she just couldn't. She honestly didn't have the guts to ask. Instead, she made her way back to her office and slumped on her chair. She took out a notepad and a red pen and continued to doodle for inspiration. She drew clouds, candy, donuts, a sun, a stove, and so on. Eventually, she had an idea for a game involving ketchup, but then remembered that she can't get started because her computer is busted. She looked over at her office phone, looking at the list of extension numbers of all the rooms in WarioWare, Inc. She looked at Orbulon's for a long time before she began dialing it. At least it's better to ask by phone than face-to-face, right?

The dial tone rang for a while, and it made Ashley very nervous. Suddenly, Orbulon's voice answered the call. "Hello?" he answered. His voice sounded a bit congested. Ashley bit her bottom bit, figuring out what exactly to say. "Helloo?" Orbulon called again. Ashley wanted to hang up, but doing so will show him that she's a coward, so…

"Orbulon, it's Ashley."

There was silence on the other line for a few seconds. "Oh… hi, Ashley." There was another pause. "…What can I do for you?"

Ashley looked at her computer screen. "My computer's busted. Can you fix it or something?"

"S-sure," Orbulon said. "I'll be right over." Then they both hung up at the same time. Ashley stayed very still on her seat, and didn't realize how tense she was. A light knock on her door made it even worse. She got up to open it, and saw Orbulon close to her face. He backed up a bit when he realized this. "Hi," he said shyly. Ashley stepped aside to let him in.

There was a lot of tension in the room. Orbulon carefully walked towards the MakerMatic, Ashley following right behind. She felt Orbulon's black cape brushing against her legs as it swayed, but she didn't complain. Orbulon coughed a bit, and then inspected the computer. "How exactly did it bust?" he asked her as he adjusted his sunglasses.

"I was eating ice cream, and then some of it went inside it and messed it up," she explained. "It glitched before it turned off." Orbulon looked at it some more, testing the power button several times.

"Can you fix it?" Ashley asked.

"Yes," Orbulon said. "It won't take a long time, but I am not sure exactly _when_. Maybe until tonight."

Ashley nodded. She went and sat down on a chair on the other side of her desk and began reading her spell book. Hopefully, the MakerMatic will be fixed on time. Orbulon kneeled down and took out a screwdriver and unscrewed the computer to get to the Motherboard. He saw the ice cream spot right on the middle of it. Orbulon took out a flash drive and stuck it on the side of the MakerMatic. He configured some controls inside it to back up Ashley's files into the drive.

While he waited, he took a peak at Ashley and saw her bored expression skimming through the spell book. Ever since that day weeks ago, he realized he had a great liking to her. It was weird but true. He thought that today she looked more beautiful than yesterday, even if she wore the same clothes and hairstyle. What he liked about her the most are her red eyes. The way he can't look at them for too long made them special. He liked how they gleamed in the sunlight – or in this case, the candlelight. He then realized that he was looking at her for too long and looked away blushing. He coughed a bit and scratched the back of his head.

Ashley looked at him from the corner of her eye. She remembered how his crystal blue eyes looked like, which made her wish sometimes that he wouldn't wear his sunglasses anymore. She shook her head slightly and resumed reading.

…

It was closing time, and Orbulon wasn't done yet. Ashley slammed her book shut and walked around her desk and stood aside him. He was still waiting for all the files to be backed up on the drive. He then looked up at Ashley.

"It's closing time," she said.

Orbulon nodded. "I guess I have to stay here a bit longer, if you don't mind."

Ashley didn't like the idea of anyone being in her office without her being there, but since it's Orbulon…

"Okay," she said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Have a good evening," Orbulon said in a lower tone. Ashley turned around and left her office, closing the door a bit gently. Several minutes passed, and Orbulon realized he was sitting on the floor for too long, so he got up and stretched. He walked around a bit to get his circulation going again. He was coming down with a cold ever since he began working on his mini-games. He doesn't work well under pressure. He thinks since it's a big event, everything has to be perfect, which makes him panic and push himself to do everything as perfect as possible.

Orbulon decided to get his suitcase over here, so he went to his office quickly to get it. He had never seen the hallways so dark and quiet. In fact, he had never stayed after closing time before; it kind of spooked him. He quickly got his suitcase and locked up his office before going back to Ashley's. He closed the door and walked back towards the MakerMatic. The flash drive stopped blinking, indicating that the files are now backed up. He ejected it and put it in one of the desk's drawers, and finally began to fix it.

His cold was getting worse by the minute; he felt horrible once he carefully got rid of the ice cream stain from the Motherboard. He wiped his eyes and realized he was very tired. He checked the time on the wall clock and realized that it was 9:00. Time seemed to have gone by fast, despite Orbulon's cold being in his way. He then proceeded to do the real work by connecting and disconnecting several wires. Usually he would enjoy the process of figuring out which wire is which and how to connect them, but since he has a bad cold, he wasn't having a very pleasant time.

Orbulon's sight began to get weary, so he decided to take off his sunglasses to try and concentrate better. He rubbed away the tiredness from his eyes as he connected yet another wire. Slowly, the temptation of sleeping was getting the best of him. He was now half asleep as he tried so hard to keep his eyes open. He connected the last wire when…

Orbulon finally collapsed on the floor and immediately fell asleep. He had never felt so tired in his life. At the moment he didn't worry about the fact that he didn't finish his five mini-games, but at least he was glad he could help Ashley out.

_Ashley…_

…

The next day finally arrived, and the WarioWare employees were making their way to the building all fancied up for tonight's event. Before they left last night, Penny told them to come to work wearing formal attire, since the whole day will be dedicated to getting everything ready. Some people were already done with all approved five mini-games, while others needed just a few more. That meant that Orbulon and Ashley were the only ones who are _way_ behind.

Ashley was walking toward her office dressed up with a long red dress with sleeves and orange trimmings that went down to her ankles. She also had her hair in a single ponytail as her long bangs still covered most of her face, but still kept her orange crest, and also wore bright red slip-on shoes. She hated dressing up more than anything, but she really had no other choice. Red was elsewhere helping out the event-planning crew moving around things, and the only formal thing he wore was a navy blue bow-tie.

Ashley finally made it to her office and opened the door. She was a bit confused about where Orbulon is, since she saw his Oinker still on the parking lot, and no one has seen him around. She walked over to her desk and found the white alien collapsed on the floor sleeping soundly, his face a bit red from his cold, and without his sunglasses. She looked at the MakerMatic and saw that it looked fixed, but the cover still needs to be screwed back on. Ashley turned back to Orbulon and poked his arm with her foot. Orbulon stretched and got up. His eyes opened and looked up at Ashley in her formal attire. He had never seen her in that kind of clothing, and he thought that she looked even more beautiful. He rubbed his head and put on his sunglasses as he got up. He looked very sick.

"Good morning, Ashley," he said, his voice totally congested. "You… look nice…"

Ashley rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "I can't believe I have to wear this stupid dress," she muttered. _Typical Ashley, _Orbulon thought in amusement. Ashley looked at the unscrewed cover again. "Can you screw that back on?"

Orbulon looked to where she was looking and realized he forgot to do that. He nodded and kneeled back down again. He sniffed and coughed more frequently this time, and Ashley realized this. Then she thought about helping him out because he was willing to fix her computer problem. It was only fair, right?

She opened her desk drawer and looked at three red unlabeled potion jars she had there. She forgot which one is which – she frequently forgets to label her potions – but took her chances and grabbed the one on the right. She closed the drawer and turned to Orbulon, who had just finished screwing on the cover. "Hey," she said.

Orbulon turned toward her, wondering what she was going to say. Ashley handed him the potion. "I'm pretty sure this potion is supposed to help you get rid of your cold." Orbulon took it and noticed how it was unlabeled. "Really?"

Ashley nodded. Orbulon looked at it again, sniffing in the progress. "Well, if you say so. Thank you."

"Consider this as your reward for fixing my computer," she said. Orbulon half-smiled and nodded. Then he got his things and made his way out of Ashley's office. He noticed that everyone was in formal attire, even Wario, who wore a somewhat clean white shirt and black pants with matching black dress shoes. He also didn't wear his biker helmet, exposing his light brown hair. Orbulon made it to his office and sat down at his desk. He looked at the potion suspiciously, still doubting it. Realizing that it's his only choice to get rid of his cold quickly and catch up with the preparations, he took off the cork and drank it. He chugged it 'til the last drop, because it tasted really good – almost like strawberries. He sat there and waited for it to take effect. Soon enough, he felt his cold going away. He was surprised that it worked just like Ashley said.

However, something didn't go right. Orbulon felt himself getting smaller and smaller, and felt his body go through some sort of mutation. Seconds later, he stopped shrinking and felt himself in another kind of body position. He hopped on his desk and looked at himself on the black MakerMatic screen. He was shocked; he transformed into a white frog! He looked back to where he was sitting and saw his boots, cape, and sunglasses there.

He was panicking. How is he going to get out of this mess? He couldn't open the door for help. _Maybe…_ he thought, glancing at the office phone. He hopped over to it and dislodged the phone from the adapter. He looked at Ashley's extension number and began dialing it. He had to start over several times because he would accidentally press some wrong numbers. After the eighth time, he finally dialed it and waited for Ashley to pick up the phone.

Ashley was still doodling around, mostly testing if the MakerMatic worked like it should. It seemed to work a bit more efficiently than before. Ashley heard the phone rang and picked it up. "Yes?" she answered. All she heard was a croak. She looked at the phone, confused. "Who is this?" she demanded. She looked at the caller ID and saw that Orbulon made the call. "Orbulon, what do you think you're doing?" she said a bit annoyed. Orbulon croaked again, this time sounding a bit desperate. Ashley then realized that the potion she gave him was the wrong one. She sighed and put a hand on her forehead. "I'll be right there," she said and hung up.

She got off of her chair and walked out of her office towards Orbulon's. She opened the door and saw him in a white frog form sitting still on his desk, his bright blue eyes showing desperation. Ashley walked over and scooped him up. "Hm…" she said somewhat impressed as she inspected him. "I remember working on this potion weeks ago. It's nice to see that it worked."

Orbulon croaked again, trying to tell her to help him. "Alright, alright," Ashley said. "I'll help you out." She grabbed Orbulon's cape, boots, and sunglasses and walked back to her office. She set Orbulon on her desk along with his things as she took out her spell book. She felt quite amused to see Orbulon in this situation, but she knew that she made a mistake when she didn't label her potions in the first place. She flipped through the spell book looking for a solution while Orbulon patiently sat there looking at Ashley. He thought that in his current state, he can look at her without getting in trouble, so he treasured it while it lasted.

Ashley found the page and read it to herself. "The Amphibian Kiss" was the title of the page. She didn't like it so far. _There are many ways to get rid of the frog curse,_ she read. _It all depends on how the user consumed the potion. If the user was cursed with a spell, turn to the next page for further instructions. If not, continue reading the following paragraph._ She glanced at Orbulon. "Did you drink it?" she asked him. Orbulon nodded a bit and croaked. She turned back to the reading.

_The person responsible of giving the user the potion must kiss him or her in the same place where the user used the potion. For example, if the user drank it, the person responsible must kiss the user's lips to break the curse. _Ashley then felt a bit uncomfortable. Kissing Orbulon again would be a bit awkward, so she flipped to the other page to look at the other suggestions. They all sounded painful – they consisted methods like brain surgery, electrocution, or black magic. Ashley hadn't done black magic in a long time, but she was willing to give it a try again. Anything to avoid another awkward kiss.

She set the book down, and Orbulon hopped over to read it. "I'm going to try some black magic on you. It's… one of the things we can try." Orbulon looked up at her. He was scared that something wrong will happen again. He remembers this one time where Ashley was restricted to use black magic when she made a very chaotic potion that was supposed to open portals from the Underworld and unleash chaotic darkness upon Diamond City. She was going through a phase back then, but now she's over it. Orbulon didn't want anything bad like that happen to him.

"First, we need red chalk," Ashley read. She took out a box of red chalk that she conveniently had in a drawer and took out a piece. "Next, we need a strand of hair from the person responsible of the transformation." She easily plucked off a hair from her ponytail. She read all the things they needed and gathered them, the last item being the victim's urine. Orbulon didn't want to do that last part, but later he got convinced to privately give a sample in a little cup.

Ashley got the red chalk and drew the antichrist symbol on the floor. Orbulon was horrified that she was going to go on with it. She set the materials in the center and placed Orbulon there as well. Ashley set some candles around the symbol and picked up the spell book. There was a tiny description in red letters, which were the words that Ashley had to chant. She looked up from the book at the scared frog alien. "Ready?" she asked him. Orbulon gulped. Ashley took that as a yes.

She looked at the red letters and began the process. "Amphibian spirit! Descend from the victim's body at once!" The candles began to sway. She raised her right hand and chanted in a foreign language. The symbol on the floor began to light up, and Ashley's tone got higher each time she repeated the chant. The process was halfway complete when…

"Ashley, I need to – ASHLEY! What are you doing!?" Penny burst into her office, interrupting the whole process. Penny looked at the white frog and the things spread around him and stomped towards the young witch. "I thought we made it clear a _long_ time ago that black magic is prohibited in these premises!" She called for Mike from the entrance of the office. Mike came by quickly to serve Penny.

"Mike! Please confiscate these _horrendous_ objects of evil this instant!" she said infuriated. Orbulon hopped to Ashley's side as Mike picked the objects up and wiped the symbol clean off of the floor. Looking at the objects in curiosity, he left from the office and went towards the furnace in the basement and tossed them all in.

"Now that _that's_ taken care of," Penny said angrily as she crossed her arms and closed her eyes, "I wanted to know if you are done with any of your mini-games." Ashley glared at her. "I'm working on them," she simply said.

"Well, you better get them done quickly, because we're running out of time," Penny said. "The guests will be arriving soon." Before she completely left the office, she turned around. "And I hope that you don't do that kind of magic around here anymore." She warned, and then she gently closed the door.

Ashley sighed heavily. She looked down at Orbulon and picked him up. Orbulon looked into her eyes, trying to figure out what another harmless solution could do the trick to revert him back to his original form. Ashley seemed to understand his gaze and hesitantly showed him the other option: "The Amphibian Kiss". Orbulon hopped over on the page and read it. After he was done, he now understood why Ashley decided to do the black magic solution. He also felt a bit awkward towards this; it's like they are going to _have_ to relive that day weeks ago. He turned around to look at Ashley.

Ashley was blushing a bit and looking away. It's like destiny wanted them to have something. Something special. But Ashley couldn't come to accept it, even though part of her wanted to. She thinks that a relationship between a witch and an extraterrestrial would never work out. Orbulon's croak brought her back to Earth and turned around to face him. She read in his facial expression that he was somehow willing to do it.

Suddenly a wave of inspiration and something else went through her when she realized that Orbulon can only croak at the moment. _Maybe,_ she thought, _maybe it's the perfect time to... confess…_

"Orbulon!" she said as she slammed her hands on her desk and placed herself in front of him. Orbulon jumped a bit from the surprise. He looked at her and saw that she looked somewhat nervous. This got his attention; he has never seen her like this before.

Ashley was breathing a bit too quickly. She then locked the door and began pacing back and forth. Orbulon croaked to show his confusion. Ashley's mind was scrambled with words on what to say. She honestly didn't think she could take it anymore and wanted to confess… everything she felt about him. It was now or never.

"Okay, I know it's going to sound a bit weird but… I need to confess some things." She began to bite her fingernails and kept on avoiding his gaze. Orbulon stayed still and eagerly wanted to know what was going through her mind. "And this is perfect because, well, you're a frog, so you can't really say anything…"

_Stop stalling, already!_ Orbulon thought. Ashley then had the guts to look at him and stopped pacing. "Okay…" She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "I haven't … forgotten about that day… weeks ago. And I know you haven't, either." Orbulon's eyes widened.

Ashley stepped closer towards him. "It's… hard for me to go on and talk about what I'm… feeling, you know? It's always been hard. That's why I've been acting very indifferent all the time. I just can't seem to change that."Orbulon showed a face of understanding and waited for her to continue.

"After all these days have gone by," she said, "I've realized something. After that kiss…" She lowered her head as her blush deepened. "… after that move I pulled off, I realized that I really…" She took another deep breath. "…really, really, _really_ like you. There! I said it!" She walked towards the opposite side of the room trying to hide her crimson face. She couldn't believe she had said all that. Neither could Orbulon, and it made his heart jump with this new information.

After a while, Ashley walked back towards him again. "I'm saying all of this now because if we're going to break your curse by kissing, then I might as well confess everything right now. I just can't hide it anymore! I can't stand this awkwardness between us!" She looked at him, and he back at her. They looked into each other's eyes, finding their true feelings within them. Orbulon then hopped a bit forward, letting her know that everything will be okay. Ashley scooped him up and brought him close to her face. Orbulon started to feel nervous as well and he gulped a bit too loudly.

Ashley sighed one more time, then closed her eyes and leaned in as she puckered her lips. Orbulon stayed still, awaiting their second kiss. Seconds later, their lips made contact, the tingly sensation making a comeback like the first time. Suddenly, Orbulon began to glow and slowly reverted back to normal, his lips still attached to hers. After a few moments, they slowly released their locked lips and looked at each other, this time differently. Orbulon felt so much better knowing that Ashley finally felt the same way as him. Ashley blushed a bright red color and looked down. Orbulon held both of her hands, and Ashley looked up at his bright blue eyes looking tenderly back at hers.

"Ashley," he said, "I have to confess that I feel the same way." Ashley's eyes sparkled as they went wide. It was amazing for her to hear this, because Orbulon tends to be extremely shy or awkward in moments like this. But Orbulon lost that cowardliness he had at the moment once he discovered that Ashley has strong feelings for him as well.

"I think that you are the most beautiful creature I've ever laid eyes on," he continued. "I like you very much; everything about you is perfect, especially your eyes." Ashley's blush deepened at this complement, and felt her heart flutter. Orbulon leaned in and planted another kiss, taking Ashley by surprise. She then deepened it, feeling insane butterflies in her stomach. They both couldn't believe that after all they've been through, this is where they were now holding hands and kissing passionately.

They broke away again, and looked at each other again. "So…" Orbulon said after a while, "Does this mean that you don't hate me anymore?"

Ashley smiled. "No," she said. Their moment was interrupted by a loud knock on the door. "Ashley!" They identified the voice belonging to Penny. "We need you out here now! The guests are arriving!" Then they heard her running away.

Orbulon and Ashley looked at each other as they both realized they weren't done with a single mini-game to present. "Oh, shoot!" Ashley said. "What are we gonna do now?" Orbulon looked at her, panicking a bit as well. Then he jumped as a light bulb went off in his head. "I have an idea," he said. "And I'm going to need to use your MakerMatic." Ashley nodded as she squeezed Orbulon's hands. He squeezed back and rushed over to the MakerMatic. He opened a new Game Maker file and began making a game. The moment he put his hands on the touch screen, he immediately got inspiration. He made a game faster than anyone Ashley had seen. He also used some custom-made stamps Ashley had made to give her credit. In minutes he developed a blue game cartridge with a red label on it.

"Think of this as a game collaboration," he told Ashley as he winked at her. Ashley smiled and was glad that Orbulon was _so_ smart. Orbulon then dusted off and quickly put on his boots, cape and sunglasses, then he and Ashley rushed out of the room. They didn't realize that they were very late.

They rushed in the multi-purpose room, which was decorated with colorful balloons and colorful tablecloths on tables. They also arrived just in time to present their creation. Penny saw them and rushed towards them. "Goodness!" she said. "Where were you two? And where are your games?" Orbulon sheepishly showed her the only game they made. Penny's facial expression turned sour. "One? Only one!?" she fumed. "These people are not gonna like the idea of you guys making just _one_ game!"

"Trust us on this one," Orbulon said. Penny was about to oppose when Speaker Joe announced for the final presenters to step up and show off their game. Penny glared at them before she took her seat in the audience, and even more when she realized that they didn't have the food they were supposed to bring.

Orbulon signaled Ashley to follow his lead as they made their way up to the podium. As the audience's claps subsided, Orbulon put the game in the Game Blender and turned it on. A projection of the Game Blender was shown on an overhead for everyone else to see it better.

"Are you sure you know what to do?" Ashley whispered nervously. "Yes," Orbulon assured her. The game was soon projected on the screen, showing a grassy background with a clear sky. The objects on the game were four different colored frogs – blue, red, yellow, and white ones. Above the frogs was a picture of a blue-colored potion. Orbulon froze the screen with a remote and began explaining the objective of the game.

"My workmate and I decided to set our differences aside in order to make a game collaboration, and because of this we only made one." He turned towards Ashley and smiled; she smiled back. "This game combines the idea of science and magic to let the gamer experience something different." He took out a laser pointer and pointed it at the potion jar. "When the game starts, this potion will be a random color, corresponding to one frog each time. In order to win, you must choose the frog that corresponds with the potion color to transform it into a human. If you don't, you lose. Simple, right?" He then pointed at the frogs. "The challenging part, however, is trying to get the right frog. During the game, the frogs will be hopping all around the screen nonstop, creating a thrill for the gamer to get the right one." He then played one sample play through to show everyone what he meant.

Ashley was very impressed that Orbulon thought up all that in a very short amount of time, which made her admire him. Excited murmurs could be heard buzzing around the audience. "Very impressive collaboration," Speaker Joe remarked. "That looks like a lot of fun!" He turned towards the audience. "Are there any questions?" No one spoke up, which usually was a good thing. "Alrighty!" Joe said. "This game will be displayed shortly as a demo in the Game Blenders on the other side of the room along with the rest of the games. And this concludes our presentations! Now it's time to play!" Everyone clapped respectfully and went to the game section of the room, truly satisfied.

As Orbulon and Ashley got down from the stage, they were greeted by Penny. "I have to say, I was truly impressed," Penny admitted. "The way you two managed to pull it off in the last minute was incredible. And I also wanted to apologize for freaking out earlier."

"It's cool," Ashley said. "No worries," Orbulon added. Penny smiled at them and walked away to attend the guests. Ashley turned towards Orbulon and embraced him in a tight hug. "Thank you," she said. "Thanks for everything."

Orbulon tightly hugged her back. "Anything for you," he said. They pulled away and looked at each other's eyes. Ashley then kissed Orbulon, not caring if anyone saw. Orbulon kissed back as passionately as he could. They pulled away shortly and smiled, looking at each other sweetly. "Will you be my mate?" Orbulon asked hopeful after a while. Ashley smiled and nodded. "Under the condition that you have to keep your sunglasses off when we're alone," she said. Orbulon smiled and nodded in agreement. Then they walked to the game section while holding hands.

Everything was cleared up between them ever since, and no awkwardness lingered around anymore. They had never felt so happy; so complete. They finally found their true significant other, even if it took a while to realize. They've spent that day having the time of their lives. And since that day, Ashley changed significantly and wasn't the grumpy teenage witch she used to be. For them, this was finally the beginning of something amazing.


End file.
